So I've been going to the annual flower park exhibition that takes place in the Keukenhof for 4 years. This year, I was quite disappointed. Given our very long and harsh winter, blossoming is delayed by several weeks. Despite their attempts, most open field plots have not yet blossomed and those that did are looking meager, pallid. Not the usual explosion of colors and forms that made the park world-famous. They even put some pots straight from greenhouses to make it not look that bad. So consider carefully before visiting the park this years. It will be probably better on its last two weeks of this season, in May. Yet, I doubt the flowers will be in full blossom, many failed bulbs out there. The famous flower fields around the park are suffering the same fate this year.
Posted by
Philadelphia
655 posts
Andre is right. We were just in Amsterdam and very disappointed that we had to skip our outing to Keukenhof.
Posted by
Divide, Colorado, USA
83 posts
Maybe because you knew what to expect from previous years, you were disappointed. But we toured the gardens two days ago and it was wonderful to us. The pavilion where millions of flowers we're on display was breath-taking. The peaceful walk by the many water features was a great contrast to the hustle-bustle of Amsterdam the day before. We spent all afternoon there and enjoyed it tremendously.
Posted by
Divide, Colorado, USA
83 posts
Maybe because you knew what to expect from previous years, you were disappointed. But we toured the gardens two days ago and it was wonderful to us. The pavilion where millions of flowers we're on display was breath-taking. The peaceful walk by the many water features was a great contrast to the hustle-bustle of Amsterdam the day before. We spent all afternoon there and enjoyed it tremendously.
Posted by
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
207 posts
I am with Les... We were there on April 8th. There are always surprises when we travel, some disappointing, more often exciting and even glorious. Keukenhof would have been stunning if the trees were flowering or tulip fields bursting but we loved our time there and did our best to imagine it in all its glory...The "themed" pavilions were fun. The frigid weather also limited our times of sitting outside and people watching... yet overall, this was one of our very best trips...BTW Our children and grandchildren don't even ask when we come because we always think our trips are wonderful.
Posted by
Tucson
4156 posts
We just returned to our hotel after visiting Keukenhof. After several days of sun, things are looking better there. Many beds are in full bloom as are many of the blossoming trees. I hadn't been to any of the greenhouses before and that was a real treat. We went to the flower parade on Saturday, but saved our visit to the gardens until today to try to avoid the crowds. It was a good decision. Although we saw no riot of tulips in the fields, the daffs and hyacinths were lovely. The latter predominated on the parade floats. I wished I could capture the scent as they passed. We stuck our noses in many of them at the garden and inhaled deeply as we drove past some of the fields with our windows open. Although northern Europe has had the same weather as here in the Netherlands, we saw license plates from Belgium, Germany, France, Great Britain, Switzerland, Denmark and Canada(!) as well as some we weren't sure of like CZ and PL, and that was just on the row where we parked our car. If now or in the near future is the only time you have to go, my advice is to do it.